McARTHUR v. MUHAMMAD

Ordered the order is affirmed insofar as appealed from, with costs.

A party moving for summary judgment must first make out a prima facie case showing its entitlement to summary judgment. Absent such a showing, the motion must be denied irrespective of the sufficiency of the opposing papers ( see Winegrad v. New York Univ. Med. Ctr., 64 NY2d 851; Hernandez v. City of New York, 24 AD3d 723). If its own papers are insufficient, a party cannot establish its entitlement to summary judgment merely by pointing to the gaps in its opponent's proof ( see South v. K-Mart Corp., 24 AD3d 748; Valdez v. Aramark Servs., Inc., 23 AD3d 639). Here, the County never made out its prima facie case. Accordingly, the burden never shifted to the plaintiff.